WJPA Sports

One week remains in the high school softball regular season, though many Washington/Greene County teams have completed section play. Washington County will send 9 teams to the WPIAL playoffs while three of the five Greene County softball teams qualified. Baseball teams have two weeks of section play remaining and significantly fewer playoff spots have been clinched. Avella, California, Canon-McMillan and Fort Cherry are the only baseball teams to hold playoff tickets from the two-county area. No local baseball teams have been eliminated though several need to win out and get help to make the post-season. Our Stretch Drive coverage continues Monday with the first-place showdown in 2A Section 1 as Fort Cherry (8-0) hosts California (8-0). We’ll have live coverage on WJPA-AM (1450) and online Watch/Listen Here! beginning at 3:45 pm.  Following is a rundown of playoff races for teams from the two-county area (section records).

Softball
6A Canon-McMillan (5-8) has lost eight of its last 9 games but has clinched a playoff spot with one game left.
5A Trinity (9-3) has clinched, Peters Township (4-8) has been eliminated.
4A Ringgold (0-11) can not qualify.
3A McGuffey (6-3) and Charleroi (4-6) have both qualified.
2A-Section 3 Chartiers-Houston (9-0) has clinched the section championship. Burgettstown (6-4) has clinched. Fort Cherry (2-8) has been eliminated.
2A-Section 4 Bentworth (8-0) has clinched the section championship. The Bearcats have home games with Waynesburg (3-6) and Wash High (5-4). The Little Prexies have also qualified. Waynesburg and California (0-10) have been eliminated.
1A Carmichaels (8-1) has clinched the section title. West Greene (8-2), Jeff-Morgan (7-3) and Beth-Center (3-6) have all qualified. Mapletown (2-8) and Avella (0-8) have been eliminated.

Baseball
6A Canon-McMillan (8-4) has clinched a playoff spot and has completed section play. The Big Macs can win the section title if Norwin takes two-of-three from Mt. Lebanon this week.
5A Peters Township (3-5) and Trinity (3-5) sit a game back of the final playoff spot, each with four games left. The two play Monday at W&J, then at Joe Maize Field Tuesday. We’ll have Tuesday’s game for you online.
4A Ringgold (5-5) is off this week and needs one win next week to clinch. The Rams play a two-game set with Laurel Highlands (2-6).
3A Section 4 has a six-team battle for three playoff spots behind section champion Seton-La Salle (9-1). McGuffey (3-5) and Wash High (3-5) play twice at EQT Park Monday and Tuesday, both needing a sweep to keep pace with Charleroi, Keystone Oaks and Waynesburg, all 4-4. Charleroi plays Brownsville while Waynesburg and Keystone Oaks meet this week. We’ll have Tuesday night’s Wash High/McGuffey game for you online, too.
2A Fort Cherry (8-0) and California (8-0) play their two-game set Monday & Tuesday. Chartiers-Houston (5-4) is off at the beginning of the week but has a make-up game with Frazier (2-5) Wednesday night. Burgettstown (3-5) sits in the final playoff spot at the moment heading into a two-game series with Frazier this week. The Blue Devils play Fort Cherry next week. Bentworth (2-8) and Beth-Center (1-7) play twice this week, the final section games for Bentworth. Both teams need to sweep to stay relevant in the playoff discussion.
1A Avella (7-3) has clinched with two games this week against Carmichaels (4-4). Jeff-Morgan (6-4) sits in third place an dis off this week before playing Jeannette (3-5) twice next week. West Greene (2-6) and Mapletown (0-8) are still mathematically alive but must win out to qualify and get some help. West Greene has section leader Greensburg Central Catholic (8-0) and Carmichaels. The Maples play Jeannette and GCC.

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Kyle Harrison collected a career-high 12 strikeouts and allowed just one hit and one walk in six scoreless innings as the Milwaukee Brewers avoided a sweep by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-0 on Sunday. The Pirates were attempting to complete a sweep in Milwaukee for the first time since winning four straight games here in August 2016. The Pirates’ last sweep of the Brewers came August 2022 at Pittsburgh. Milwaukee scored all its runs off Carmen Mlodzinski in the fourth inning. Jake Bauers hit two doubles for Milwaukee. The Pirates had only two hits and struck out 18 times.

Sidney Crosby stepped up to help the Pittsburgh Penguins extend their season. Now the Penguins will get another chance when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday in the first round of the NHL playoffs. The Flyers won the first three games of the series before the Penguins took Game 4 to stave off elimination. Crosby had a goal and an assist in that win. Game 5 of that series between instate rivals is Monday. The schedule also includes the Utah Mammoth trying to take a 3-1 lead on the Vegas Golden Knights out West.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist, Nicolas Roy and Devon Toews scored in the third period, and the top-seeded Colorado Avalanche swept the Los Angeles Kings out of the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs with a 5-1 victory. Cale Makar also scored and Scott Wedgewood made 24 saves as the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avs ended the 20-year career of Kings captain Anze Kopitar, who announced his pending retirement in September. With a masterful four-game demonstration of the roster-wide talent on a team ready to win it all, Colorado advanced to face the winner of the heavyweight first-round series between Dallas and Minnesota.